Lady Lucy Barry and Evangelical Reading on the First Franklin Expedition Janice Cavell1

ARCTIC VOL. 63, NO. 2 (JUNE 2010) P. 131–140 Lady Lucy Barry and Evangelical Reading on the First Franklin Expedition JANICE CAVell1 (Received 19 May 2009; accepted in revised form 29 July 2009) ABSTRACT. This article examines the relationship between Lady Lucy Barry and John Franklin. Barry has been dismissed by other writers as a fanatic who had only a passing influence on the explorer’s religious beliefs. Though their friendship ended after Franklin’s marriage to Eleanor Porden in August 1823, Barry’s Evangelical faith, as expressed through the books she presented to the members of the first Franklin expedition, had already shaped both Franklin’s own understanding of his Arctic experiences and the literary representation of them in his Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819, 20, 21, and 22. In the narrative, both Franklin and his companion John Richardson affirmed the great value of religious books and practices in helping them to endure the sufferings of the journey. As a result, the public came to revere Arctic explorers as Christian heroes. Without Lady Lucy Barry and her books, Arctic exploration might never have come to hold such an important place in 19th-century British culture. Key words: Sir John Franklin, Arctic expeditions, books and reading, religion, evangelicalism RÉSUMÉ. Cet article porte sur la relation qui a existé entre Lady Lucy Barry et John Franklin. Barry était considérée par les autres écrivains comme une fanatique qui n’a eu qu’une influence passagère sur les croyances religieuses de l’explorateur. Bien que leur amitié ait pris fin lorsque Franklin a épousé Eleanor Porden en août 1823, la foi évangélique de Barry, telle qu’exprimée dans les livres qu’elle a présentés aux membres de la première expédition de Franklin, avait déjà façonné la façon dont Franklin vivait son expérience dans l’Arctique et sa représentation littéraire de celle-ci dans son récit intitulé Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819, 20, 21, and 22. Dans ce récit, Franklin et son compagnon John Richardson affirmaient la grande valeur des pratiques et livres religieux en ce sens que ces derniers les avaient aidés à endurer les souffrances découlant de leur expédition. Par conséquent, la société en général en était venue à révérer les explorateurs de l’Arctique à titre de héros chrétiens. Sans Lady Lucy Barry et ses livres, l’exploration de l’Arctique n’aurait peut-être jamais occupé une place aussi importante dans la culture britannique du XIXe siècle. Mots clés : Sir John Franklin, expéditions dans l’Arctique, livres et lecture, religion, évangélicalisme Traduit pour la revue Arctic par Nicole Giguère. Introduction with dissenting sects like the Methodists, but who never- theless remained members of the Church of England (Gell, The role played by Lady Lucy Barry in the life of Sir John 1930:216). Methodist theology was sometimes described as Franklin was first revealed in 1930, when Edith Mary Gell “Calvinistic” because of its emphasis on human weakness published a biography of Franklin’s first wife, Eleanor and sinfulness and on the acceptance of God’s grace as the Porden. Gell printed a dramatic exchange of letters between only way to salvation. Possibly Gell, with an early 20th- Franklin and Porden that took place shortly before their century English audience in mind, felt that Franklin’s com- marriage. Porden objected to Franklin’s intensely held reli- ment provided sufficient information for readers. However, gious views, which she believed had been unduly influ- as the decades passed and religion began to play less and enced by Barry. So strong were her feelings on this point less of a role in English life, confusion arose. In his 2002 that the engagement was nearly broken off. In the end, how- biography of Franklin, English author Martyn Beardsley ever, love triumphed, and Barry was heard of no more in claimed that Barry “headed a group of Calvinists.” Beard- the book. sley noted, correctly, that Eleanor Porden regarded Barry Rather oddly, Gell did not trouble to explain who Lady as a “fanatic,” and then added that this view was “probably Lucy Barry was or exactly what her religious convictions shared by much of London society” (Beardsley, 2002:65). were. In one of his letters to Porden, Franklin described Beardsley’s assertions were readily accepted by review- Barry and her friends as “belong[ing] perhaps to what is ers, who commended his treatment of the disputes between termed the Calvinistic part of our own Church”—that is, as Franklin and Porden on the subject of religion as among the evangelical Christians who held many beliefs in common best parts of his book (see Potter, 2002; Barr, 2003). 1 Department of History, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada; [email protected] © The Arctic Institute of North America 132 • J. CAVELL Had Lady Lucy actually been a Calvinist or Methodist, profoundly affect Franklin himself and his companions: she would indeed have been regarded as eccentric and fanat- they also shaped the writing of a very influential narrative, ical by the great majority of those in her aristocratic milieu, which in its turn provided reading for later expeditions. for whom membership in the state-sanctioned Church of England was a badge of social acceptability as much as (or in some cases even more than) it was a sign of reli- Who Was Lady Lucy Barry? gious faith. To be an Anglican denoted unswerving loyalty to king and country, while Dissenters were often radical in Juliana Lucy Annesley was born in October 1772. She their politics. Yet Methodism—the “religion of the heart,” was the fourth child and eldest daughter of an Anglo-Irish as it was known—held a strong appeal for many politically aristocrat, Arthur Annesley, Viscount Valentia (1744–1816), conservative members of the upper class. Members of the and his wife Lucy, the daughter of George, Lord Lyttelton. Evangelical faction within the Church of England believed In 1793 Lord Valentia would become the Earl of Mountnor- that for too many Anglicans, religion had become a mere ris (Collen, 1840:527). The writer Mary Martha Sherwood matter of outward form. The Evangelicals sought regener- described Lady Valentia as “a beautiful, delicate woman” ation and renewal through personal piety and missionary and Lord Valentia as “one of the handsomest men I ever zeal. Such changes, they believed, would transform their remember” (Kelly, 1854:37). The Annesley family owned church into the firmest possible foundation for state author- extensive estates in Kerry, Armagh, Cork, and Wexford, ity (see Brown, 1961; Bradley, 1976). Far from being a lone and another estate, inherited from the Lytteltons, at Arley in fanatic, then, Barry belonged to a strong and vocal group of Worcestershire. Religion played an important role on both wealthy men and women who had a revolutionary effect on sides of the little girl’s ancestry. The Annesleys were distant the mainstream culture of their time, becoming the parents cousins of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, through of the Victorians in far more than the literal sense. his mother, Susanna Annesley. Juliana Lucy’s maternal Eleanor Porden’s statements about Barry cannot be taken grandfather, Lord Lyttelton (a politician and minor poet), as the full, unbiased truth, since the situation evidently was well known for his piety and exemplary life (see Dav- aroused strong emotions in Franklin’s fiancée. Franklin and ies, 1939). Lady Valentia’s character resembled her father’s. Barry corresponded, perhaps extensively, but unfortunately “Kind was her heart, and Faith, a cincture bright/ Around neither side of the correspondence seems to have survived. her soul diffus’d a heavenly light,” wrote her son’s tutor However, it is possible to glean some very interesting infor- after her death (Butt, 1793, 1:202). mation about both Barry herself and her influence on Frank- However, there were also some famous family scandals lin from other sources. The religious books with which she to be lived down. Lord Valentia’s father was a self-con- presented him before he departed on his first Arctic expedi- fessed bigamist whose marriage to the beautiful Juliana tion had a profound effect on the explorer. “To her Lady- Donovan may or may not have been valid. As a result, Lord ship ... I owe much and I trust shall ever acknowledge my Valentia’s legitimacy was called into question, and he had gratitude. From the books she put in my hands I was cer- to contend with a rival claimant to his title. (Miss Donovan tainly induced to read the Scriptures more attentively (in is variously described in the published accounts of the case fact daily) and then I received through the blessing of God as a respectable young girl of good family and as a tavern stronger grounds of hope in His divine mercy and good- keeper’s daughter.) Lady Valentia’s brother Thomas Lyt- ness,” he told Porden (in Gell, 1930:216). Reading Lady telton was among the most notorious 18th-century rakes. Lucy’s books brought about a remarkable change in Frank- Thomas’s misconduct was so flagrant and so widely known lin’s character, a change that would endure for a lifetime. that he was often simply called “the bad Lord Lyttelton” as The books also had their effect on his companions John the easiest way of distinguishing him from his father, the Richardson and Robert Hood. In one of the most famous “good” lord (see Blunt, 1936). episodes in polar history, Hood was engaged in reading one Lady Valentia died in 1783.

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